“Mama’s Family”
originally began as a sketch known as ‘The Family’ on “The Carol Burnett Show,”
recurring for much of the eleven seasons that it was on air. Burnett herself
was originally intended to play Mama Harper, but preferred the supporting role
of Eunice and instead suggested Vicki Lawrence. Lawrence, despite only being in her early
30s, played the older matriarch in her 60s with such success that it led to a
standalone spin-off series from 1983 to 1990 (primarily in syndication). There
had actually been offers to make the series as early as 1975, but Lawrence was hesitant to
appear disloyal to “The Carol Burnett,” and only agreed years later at the
suggestion of Burnett herself.

Does anyone
really expect quality television from Kendra Wilkinson? The former Playboy
model made her name by being the live-in girlfriend (one of three) for Hugh
Hefner, which made her a reality TV pseudo-celebrity. It was enough to get her
two consecutive standalone reality series and appearances as a contestant on
countless others, despite the fact that she doesn’t have any talent or much
personality. Actually, I retract that. She has plenty of personality, but it
just happens to be very ugly in contrast to her looks.

I am typically
quite adamant about not including any spoilers in my reviews of films, but I’m
afraid that the only way to truly point out what is wrong with Man Down is by revealing the truth about
the largest twist in the narrative. This revelation is also the only way to
convey the main theme and apparent point of the story, which remains hidden by
a silly and convoluted mystery for much of the run time. Even simply saying
that this is a film about PTSD will likely give away the truth about the
post-apocalyptic section of the narrative, while most are likely to be too
irritated by the manipulation for the intended message to have any real impact
once revealed.